Jennifer Chang

Jennifer Chang is a musician, educator, and strategist working at the intersections of culture and policy. She serves as the inaugural program director for the Culture and Civil Society Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership and as an adjunct lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she teaches arts policy in the U.S. In the Biden administration, she served as Chief of Staff and Liaison to the White House at the National Endowment for the Arts. In those roles she was instrumental in designing the NEA’s $135 million American Rescue Plan grant program and its first equity-focused grant program, ArtsHERE. She also led the NEA's partnership with the White House on an all-of-government arts integration strategy.
 

At the Kennedy School, she advances the Culture and Civil Society Initiative's mission to help public leaders better understand the ways culture nourishes thriving democratic societies. Since starting in July 2025, she has done this by facilitating research, classes, convenings, publications, partnerships, and other activities on Harvard's campuses and beyond. Previously, Chang spent a decade at Google and worked on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. She holds an A.B. in Social Studies from Harvard College and a master’s degree in viola performance from The Juilliard School. She enjoys playing viola in the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and adventuring with her family.